Chinese automotive manufacturing company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely) has signed an agreement with state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry (CASIC) to develop supersonic trains.

The agreement was signed at an aerospace industry show in Zhuhai, China.

Both firms agreed to combine their technical expertise and capabilities to develop next-generation bullet trains.

However, the companies did not reveal investment details or timeframes involved with this project.

CASIC announced it was working on a project to enable trains to travel at a speed of 1,000 kph (620 mph), reported Reuters.

"The proposals included enabling passenger and freight transportation using pods or specially-developed vehicles through low-pressure tubes."

Geely and CASIC aim to utilise magnetic levitation to remove ground friction, as well as deploy vacuum tubes in order to minimise air resistance to enable hypersonic transportation.

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In a statement, Geely said that the technologies developed under the joint effort will also help the company in the development of energy vehicles and materials science.

Various companies including the Boring Company, Virgin Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies have supported the idea of hypersonic trains as a next-generation mode of transport.

The proposals included enabling passenger and freight transportation using pods or specially-developed vehicles through low-pressure tubes.

Virgin Hyperloop One has already started building a fully operational hyperloop system, which is currently under testing phase. One of its tests carried out in the US state of Nevada recorded a speed of 387km/h.